A man’s account of being badly injured in an encounter with immigration agents in Arlington has prompted condemnation from local elected officials and Arlington’s congressman.
U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti and County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti have all released statements on the case of José Mejía Hernandez. The Mexican immigrant has told multiple media outlets that immigration enforcement approached him on his way to a bus stop last week and shot him with a stun gun when he tried to run.
Video of Mejía Hernandez’s face covered in dark bruises has raised questions about what happened to him and reopened criticisms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s tactics in Northern Virginia.
“I am deeply disturbed by the reports that ICE agents severely injured José Mejía Hernandez,” Dehghani-Tafti said in a press release. “I am committed to upholding the rule of law and holding all individuals who violate the law in our community accountable in the appropriate ways. No one is above the law — not any individual, not law enforcement, and not federal officials — no one.”
De Ferranti, who with the rest of the County Board has encouraged residents to call 911 if they see ICE agents in Arlington, raised similar concerns.
“Because ICE does not communicate with the County regarding its activity in our community, we are working to confirm details. However, is clear that ICE’s continued tactics and disregard for life, civil liberties, and due process have not made us safer,” de Ferranti told ARLnow. “ICE’s acts of violence instill fear in the very communities it claims to serve and protect and strains the trust residents have with our local government and police officers.”
Mejía Hernandez, 45, told Univision that two trucks stopped near him while he was on his way to work on Aug. 11. He said he began to run and agents shot him in the back with a stun gun.
Mejía Hernandez said he lost consciousness and woke up in a hospital in D.C. hours later with serious injuries.
Mejía Hernandez reportedly suffered a brain bleed and has been in and out of the hospital for the past week, with an ankle monitor that, he told Telemundo, prevents him from getting certain medical tests. Mejía Hernandez has been in the United States for 18 years, his attorney told the station.
The Department of Homeland Security told HuffPost that Mejía Hernandez is undocumented and that he “attempted to flee from the scene, requiring ICE to use necessary force to gain control of the situation.” The agency denies that he fell unconscious.
“Allegations that he was unconscious and woke up in a hospital bed are FALSE,” the agency said. “According to officers, they rendered aid, asked the individual, who was responsive, if he was okay after evading arrest, and followed their training.”
DHS told Newsweek that Mejía Hernandez came to the United States illegally in 2006 and accepted voluntary return after encountering immigration enforcement. The agency said that he returned unlawfully in 2008.
Beyer said that Mejía Hernandez’s case came amid a surge in unusually aggressive encounters with immigration enforcement in Northern Virginia over the past 10 days.
“The injuries to Jose Mejia Hernandez and his account of how he received them are extremely disturbing, and I am seeking further details about what happened to him in Arlington,” Beyer said. “It is essential to establish the facts in this case, and, if this is another instance of unjustified violence by ICE agents, to hold them accountable.”
The injuries to Jose Mejia Hernandez and his account of how he received them are very disturbing. I am seeking further details about what happened to him in Arlington.
It essential to establish the facts in this case, and, if this is indeed another instance of unjustified… https://t.co/t0zdyDVxKy
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) August 18, 2026
Beyer said he has recently received several reports of interactions involving “unjustified violence” by ICE agents or “apparently warrantless detention.”
“The pattern that emerges in the descriptions is of ICE agents stopping people outside or on the street, asking for ID, and often responding with violence when their orders are questioned, regardless of whether those orders violate individuals’ rights,” he said.
The congressman referenced a recent video of an ICE agent pointing a gun at a woman during a confrontation in Bailey’s Crossroads last week.
“I urge Northern Virginians to exercise extreme caution. ICE agents are here, they are regularly ignoring their training and departmental regulations that call for de-escalation, they are disappearing people, and they are all too frequently becoming out of control or violent,” Beyer said. “I thank constituents who have alerted my office to these activities, and encourage all residents to review and remember their constitutional rights.”
Photos 1 and 2 via Noticias Telemundo/Facebook
